


BeauJester Week 2020

by DuskyDestra



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27487537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DuskyDestra/pseuds/DuskyDestra
Summary: I've gotta show love to my favorite blue girls, so here we are.Chapter 1: Sharing a BedChapter 2: Hair BraidingChapter 3: WoundsChapter 4: ScarsChapter 5: Tarot
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36
Collections: Beaujester Week





	1. Sharing a Bed

It had become something of a tradition for them. Whenever their room came with one more bed than necessary, Beau and Jester took time to push both of theirs together. As usual, the floor briefly groaned under the beds’ shifting weights.

Jester flopped onto the mattresses and spread out like a starfish. She grinned so widely at Beau her eyes were nearly closed. Beau paused before turning out the light, eyes lingering on Jester’s face. Times like these, she wished she could see in the dark.

Beau shivered as she crawled into bed; the sheets were unbelievably cold. In no time at all, Jester wrapped an arm and a leg around her. She sank into the touch. Beau slowly rubbed her thumb across Jester’s leg as it settled across her waist. The warmth spreading across Beau’s back helped her fend off the shivers.

All the thoughts that spent the day circling her mind finally quieted down. Her breathing slowed, muscles relaxed. As she closed her eyes, the image of Jester’s grin appeared behind her eyelids. A lazy smile of her own cropped up before she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Hair Braiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jester helps Beau prepare for their fancy party.

Beau twisted a little to the side, eyes roaming up and down her new suit. She’d buttoned the slate gray jacket over a dark blue dress shirt. The high-waisted pants matched the jacket down to where the knees down were covered in fitted black boots. Beau experimentally tapped the boots' toes on the ground. Sturdy, just like she likes em.

The outfit felt perfectly tailored despite her never providing measurements to Jester and Caduceus.

She reached up and adjusted the azure ascot. Beau had seen highfalutin rich types wear them before, but never bothered to memorize the manners in which they were meant to be styled. 

Beau heard Jester’s pleased sigh before seeing the tiefling herself. The pink chiffon of Jester’s dress flowed elegantly around her legs as she came up behind Beau. With deft fingers, she untied the ascot and re-tucked it.

“Thanks. I’m no good with those things.”  
“You were really close.” Jester said. “I bet if we got to dress up more often, you’d get the hang of it in no time.”   
“Sure.”

“What are you going to do with your hair?” Blue hands gently handled the brown locks. “Wear it up? Push it to one side? Ooh, maybe a tall mohawk?” Jester emulated the styles she suggested, giving Beau an idea of how the complete look would turn out.

“Y’know what? Surprise me.” Beau met Jester’s eyes in the mirror and gave her a smile.  
“Whoa, really?” A glint of excitement shone in Jester’s eyes.   
“I mean, nothing _too_ crazy, but-”   
“Of course, of course!” Jester waved a hand. “I’ve already got an idea.”   
“Oh. Okay. That was fast.” Beau sighed.   
Jester giggled. “Where’s your headband? The one you wear when you study?”

The monk pointed to a nightstand by the bed. Jester lifted the hem of her dress a little so she could get to and from a little faster. She returned with the headband and a cobalt ribbon.

Beau watched as the tiefling pulled her hair back, then parted a few sections separately along the sides. Jester drew the largest section up for the usual updo with the ribbon. She centered the headband on Beau’s forehead and clasped it under the hair.

Jester twisted small braids along the sides of the hair used for Beau's topknot. In the mirror, she searched Beau’s face for signs of discomfort, making sure nothing was tied too tightly. Once complete, she wound them along the circlet's golden chain until she got to the end. 

Beau took a few seconds to admire the dark spiral of her braids along the wired headband. The green gem that sat in the center of her forehead glimmered a bit as it caught the light. It was a nice companion piece to the jade earrings. She couldn’t even form words at the sight, only mouth _“Wow”_ at her reflection.

Jester stood on tiptoes to rest her chin on Beau's shoulder, wrapping both arms around Beau’s waist. "Look at you. My handsome Beau."

Beau’s face warmed at the compliment. She cleared her throat. “You did great, Jester.”

She put her arms on Jester’s. The pair closed their eyes and swayed gently in each other’s arms. They indulged in this moment for as long as they could before they heard themselves being called downstairs.


	3. Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jester briefly laments the existence of Beau's most recent battle scars.

Beau was stirred awake by the gentle tracing of a hand across her skin. She rolled the side of her torso up into Jester's palm, which immediately froze and pulled away.

"Oh! Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." Jester's leg fell away from Beau's hip, the prickling heat finally getting to both of them.

"'S fine." Beau mumbled. Sitting up, she stretched and groaned as stiff joints popped down her back. As she brought her arms down, her eyes followed a sliver of early morning sunlight to the sides of her abdomen. Jagged claw marks curved around the skin above her hips, a shade lighter than the surrounding brown. She smiled at them. "Wanted a closer look?"

Jester shook her head once. "It's not that. It just...looks like they _really_ hurt. If only I'd been faster, they wouldn't even be here. I was thinking of curing them for you."

"Are you kidding?" Beau's face took on a distant, yet excited look as she recalled their last fight. "I got these right before Yasha practically sawed that lobster's arm off. And then I beat the shit out of it with my staff to make it drop me. It was badass!"

Taking in Beau's high spirits, Jester let out a hum. "Yeah, it was. So you don't want me to get rid of them, then?"

"Nah, the worst of it's over." She shrugged with one shoulder. "When I look at all my bumps and bruises, I don't remember how much it hurt to get them. I think about times you all saved me and times I saved myself. So I wanna keep these until they go away on their own."

Something between gratitude and reverence shaped her expression.

Purple eyes flicked from the marks up to Beau's face. "Of course you do."

Beau pulled her up into a hug. "And I don't want you feeling bad for not being quicker or whatever. You're always right on time."

Jester nuzzled her face into the side of Beau's neck as a muffled laugh spilled past her grin.


	4. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jester slips into a daymare about her encounter with the blue dragon.

This late at night, the tavern is sparse, to put it nicely. With only two other people around, no one has anything to say about Jester, Beau, and Veth lounging in a booth in their night clothes. Yasha had turned in early, leaving them to carry on for the night.

Outside, a bout of loud screams from a group devolve into drunken laughter. Panic rises up Jester’s spine for a moment before she dismisses the tension.

“What if they saw the roc, you guys? The one that chased us around Xhorhas.” Jester giggles. “It just couldn’t stay away cos it missed us so much.”  
“Ugh, what if it’s another blue dragon?” Veth rolls her eyes.   
“What?” Jester’s face falls a bit before she picks it back up.   
“Y’know, like from the Happy Fun Ball.” Veth puts her hands in front of her mouth, fingers interlocking as if they are rows of teeth. “You killed my brother. Now I’m going to _eat you_.” She punctuates this with a chomping motion.

In Jester’s mind, she hears Thelashas’s teeth scrape against her splintered shield. Sweat itches the back of her neck as her body remembers being surrounded by flames. A warm hand caresses her arm. She flinches hard enough to jostle her glass of milk. Looking down, her eyes focus enough to see Beau’s hand pull away in time to brace against the table.

“Veth!” Beau hisses.  
“What?” Veth says behind her hands.   
“Come on. You _know_...”

The remaining words recede into a muffled haze. Jester struggles to listen to them. She needs something to pull her out of this. Every muscle locks up as her brain visualizes the dragon staring down at her. She’s stuck all over again.

“-er? Jester.” Beau’s firm voice cut through the fog.  
She blinks once, twice. “Hm?”   
“Do you wanna go to our room?”   
“Mm-hm.”   
The worried look on Beau's face softens. “Do I need to carry you?”   
Jester’s heart pulses in her throat before she can make another sound, so she settles on a nod.   
“Alright, then.”

Beau gently pries the glass out of Jester’s death grip and sets it on the table. Strong arms hook under her knees and shoulders, lifting her out of the chair. She tucks her head under Beau’s chin. 

“I’ve got you.” Beau whispers into her hair. “I’m right here.”  
Jester nods again, nestling closer to the monk. 

The light swaying as Beau walks upstairs brings a smile to Jester's face. Sinking into the memory once more, there's a faint buzzing in her palms as she touches the pulsing green orb. 

She blinks, vision clearing. She’s not alone. The dragon’s dead. And soon, she’ll be under some comfy covers. It’s not until her shoulders relax that she realizes how close they were to her ears.

Beau pushes their door open with her foot and lays Jester on the center of the bed. With steady hands, the tiefling draws the covers up to her chin. Before sitting down, Beau reaches over to the oil lamp on the nightstand. She makes a twisting motion, asking if Jester wants the lights out.

Jester shakes her head. Not yet.

The mattress dips when the monk joins her, gathers the tiefling up in her arms. Soft reassurances are spoken into Jester’s ear. The rumble of Beau’s voice is comforting in a way few other things are during moments like these. It grounds her in the present.

Once her body realizes there’s no fight happening, the restless energy fizzles out. It leaves Jester drained, as if she depleted every magical reserve within her. She tries to manage a thanks to Beau, but is so tired she can’t tell if the words made it out. Beau must’ve gotten the idea despite the mumbling, since the last thing Jester feels is a warm peck on the cheek before drifting off to sleep.


	5. Tarot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What could be in the cards for Beau?

A twinge crept up Beau’s thumb as she penned her notes. She pushed through it. As hard as she’d worked to collect all these leads, she couldn’t risk losing any of them to forgetfulness. After scribbling out the final sentence, she dropped the pen and massaged her hand. The sore throb warned her she was on the cusp of injury.

The mahogany desk was littered with tomes, open journals, and empty discarded pens. Beau assured herself that she knew where everything was. Even so, there was a phantom sense of disapproval in the back of her head. It reminded her of Dairon. Beau rolled her eyes, but still took time to organize everything and put it all away.

She couldn’t deny the bit of satisfaction she felt knowing there was no more left to do. With the rest of the day open, now seemed as good a time as any to check on Jester.

Arriving at the tiefling’s room, Beau leaned against the open door frame. She spotted Jester sitting cross-legged on the center of her bed, gently poking a tarot card to ensure the paint had completely dried. Beau could watch her work for hours, but didn’t want to be a creep. So she knocked twice on the wall.

Jester looked up. The single-minded focus on her face instantly gave way to excitement. The unrestrained joy Jester showed whenever they locked eyes never failed to make Beau’s heart falter.

“Beau! Come in, come in.”  
The monk stepped up to the foot of the bed.  
“Let me read your fortune. Please?” Jester’s eyes sparkled at the thought.  
Beau held back a groan. “I told you I don’t believe in that stuff.”

Jester nodded, unperturbed. “You did. But you know what else you said? ‘Maybe I can grow to like em again.’ Today could be that day, Beau.” She shuffled the cards in a bridge, then spread them out in a semicircle. With a hand on both sides of the layout, the flipped them over from end to end, each card rising and falling like an ocean wave. "And I've been practicing."

Beau quirked an eyebrow. "I see."  
“Mm-hm.” Jester slapped the space across from her on the bed, scooting back to make room.  
Beau folded one of her legs under her as she sat down. “Uh, what do I do?”  
Jester gathered the cards and fanned them facedown in front of Beau. “Pick a card for your past, present, and future.”

Beau looked down as something twisted harshly in her chest.  
Jester also looked away, getting the sense Beau wouldn’t want her to stare right now. "Y'know what, let's just skip that first one. Present and future only. Choose whichever cards call to you."

Beau stared at the ornate blue and silver designs on the cards’ backs. She wasn’t sure what it meant for a card to “call” to her, so she closed her eyes and drew one from opposite sides of the fan. The cards brushed smoothly over each other as she handed them to Jester.

Jester put the deck back into its case and excitedly grabbed Beau’s cards. “Are you ready?”  
“Bout as ready as I’ll ever be.” Beau leaned back, supporting herself with an arm propped up behind her.

Jester took a deep breath and turned the first card over. It was a drawing of someone in a meadow frantically grasping for loose notebook pages that had been scattered by the wind. “Ooooh. The Scholar. This is perfect for you. But it’s a reversal.”

“What’s that mean?” Beau cocked her head to one side.

“This person threw themselves completely into their research. And now everything’s topsy-turvy. Only when something forced them away from their work did they realize they are all alone.” Jester met Beau’s rapt gaze. “Do not let your search for knowledge rule you.”

The force of Beau’s rising heartbeat pulsed within her thumb as well. She rubbed at it in an attempt to stave off another cramp.

Jester’s tail stuck straight up. “But! See how they’re surrounded by all these beautiful flowers? Well, they didn’t see any of them. Not at first. There’s still time to enjoy things you like, those little moments. It’s not too late.”

Beau cleared her throat. “You got all that from one card?”  
“Yep! Each one tells a story. But remember, this is only your present. Let’s see what’s in your future.”  
“Can’t wait.” The slight prickle of sweat on the back of her neck said otherwise.

Jester turned over the second card. Standing on the deck of a pirate ship, a woman held one hand up to the night sky and marked a map with the other. Moonlight fell over a dock in the distance. Various other pirates were at their stations, not yet aware of the dock. “Ah! Oh my gosh!”  
She jolted. “What?”  
“It’s The Navigator.”  
“And that means...?”

Jester leaned forward, positively beaming. “Sailing the high seas aboard your own ship, going on adventures, a loyal crew by your side. And a nice dock to welcome them all. Do you know what this means?”

A mix of emotions, some more identifiable than others, swelled in the pit of Beau’s stomach. Chief among them was a sense of relief. She tried to laugh it off. “That the dock’s not attached to Darktow?”

 _“Beau."_ Jester dragged out the name with a playful groan. “It means we’re in your future!”  
The chuckle was genuine this time. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. But you already knew that.”  
Jester took Beau’s hands in her own, giving them a light squeeze. “I can’t wait to go on more adventures with you.”

For a moment, all Beau could do was stare as the sentence lanced through her. Jester gave the cards a final shuffle.

“Um. Thanks for this.” Beau sighed, and felt lighter after doing so. “I can’t believe I’m gonna admit this, but I enjoyed the reading.”  
“Would you say you like tarot cards now?” Jester waggled her eyebrows from behind the deck.  
Beau waved the words away. “I wouldn’t go that far. But I’m getting there.”  
Jester’s satisfied grin said it all. “Well. You can come to me any time you wanna know your future—or anything, really. You can ask any kind of question you want, apparently.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, it’s super cool.”  
“Then I’ll be sure to take you up on it sometime. Hopefully it’ll be less personal.”  
“That’s up to the cards, not me.”  
“Okay, Jester.”

Even Beau was surprised at the lack of dismissiveness in her tone. Just one more of Jester’s influences for her to marvel at.


End file.
